Blog :: training
August 4, 2026
Why Your Dog Starts Offering Every Familiar Behavior During Shaping
Your dog sits, paws, spins, lies down, and offers every familiar behavior during shaping. Trace reinforcement history and the changed contingency before labeling the learner.
August 4, 2026
Creating Behavior, Not Fixing It: Shaping Through Component Skills
Treat complex behavior as a structure: teach useful component skills separately, plan the joins, and assemble them without asking the learner to guess the whole answer.
June 30, 2023
4 reasons why online puppy training is better than in-person
Most of the puppy guardians know that they need to train their puppy. But not every puppy will thrive in a puppy training class and…
June 30, 2023
How to Stop Your Dog From Pulling on Leash
Is your dog pulling on the leash every time you go for a walk? This can be incredibly frustrating and problematic for both ends of…
June 30, 2023
Some fun and functional behaviors to train with your cat and why
Training a cat?! Why would you do that? To distill that question down to a few sentences, training through a positive reinforcement (R+)-based approach with…
June 30, 2023
Do Dogs Need to Make Mistakes to Learn?
Do dogs need mistakes—or frustration—to learn? A careful look at errorless-learning research, extinction, and what clearer training design changes in practice.
June 30, 2023
Impulse control – mindset matters pt. 2 of 2
A helpful way to re-frame the debate around impulse control is to think of it less like an exercise in “generalized self-inhibition,” and more like teaching a…
June 30, 2023
Impulse control – mindset matters pt. 1 of 2
One of the more profound things I’ve heard Kay Laurence say is that positive reinforcement trainers need to be careful we are not just…
June 30, 2023
How to train your dog to wear a muzzle? Start muzzle training today!
Make your dog wearing a muzzle can be sometimes controversial. Some people argue that you are abusing your dog or that you shouldn’t use it…
June 30, 2023
Dog Shaping Stuck? Five Things to Check Before Lowering Criteria
Before lowering criteria in a stalled shaping session, check the consequence, delivery pattern, trainer mechanics, component skills, and the complete plan.
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